Grissom High School JROTC instructor 1st Sgt. Lynn Vanzandt speaks to Huntsville school board members about his cadets' achievements Thursday. Dozens of cadets attended the board meeting to support Vanzandt, who has been accused of bullying two female students. (Eric Schultz/eschultz@al.com)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Bullying in the schools once again took center stage at tonight's Huntsville school board meeting, where those on both sides of an April incident involving a Grissom High JROTC instructor showed up to make themselves heard.

Grissom student Taylor Sisk and her supporters picketed outside the Annie C. Merts Center before the meeting began, as they've done before. This time, however, they were joined at the meeting by supporters of 1st Sgt. Lynn Vanzandt, the JROTC instructor that Sisk accuses of bullying her and another female student on April 12.

Sisk and the school district agree on one thing: Vanzandt talked to the girls that day about his Biblical views of homosexuality. Sisk claims, however, that he continued the lecture even after they begged him to stop.

Board member David Blair seemed to back Vanzandt at the board meeting, saying that for an incident to be considered bullying, there needs to be a pattern of behavior.

"This was an isolated incident," Blair said.

Blair implored those in the audience to work with the school district to stop bullying. Board president Laurie McCaulley agreed.

"We the people, we have to do this together," McCaulley said.

Several Grissom JROTC students and parents spoke on Vanzandt's behalf, calling him the "heart" of the program. Cadet Marc Johnson told the board that he has been Vanzandt's student for more than three years and knows him as a man of loyalty, honor and distinction.

"He cares about development of the program, but also about development of cadets," Johnson said.

The teen said Vanzandt has never preached to students, nor treated students badly based on race, sexual orientation or anything else.

"He is one of the best men I have ever come into contact with," Johnson said to loud applause from the group of cadets.

Fellow student Abby Tomkovich also praised Vanzandt, who she said has never shown discrimination against students when assigning them duties. "We are truly diverse," Tomkovich said. "Sexual orientation is simply not an issue."

Grissom High School JROTC students watch the Huntsville school board meeting from the hallway outside the board room Thursday. The cadets were at the meeting to support 1st Sgt. Lynn Vanzandt, an instructor accused of bullying two female students in April. (Eric Schultz/eschultz@al.com)

Ann Meyer, a Grissom JROTC parent, credited the JROTC instructor with helping her son grow up.

"First Sergeant has a long history of bringing his students up, not down," Meyer said, talking about how her son began JROTC with a bad attitude and behavior problems. "He never discriminated because Ryan was a difficult cadet."

She read the board an email her son, who is serving in the U.S. Navy, wrote to her explaining the impact Vanzandt had on him. "First Sergeant helped make me the man I am today," he wrote.

Anna Giudice, a Lee High student supporting Sisk, also spoke before the board.

"Five days a week, for seven hours, the school district becomes my parent," Giudice said. "When I go to school each day, I trust that the school system will make the best judgments on my behalf."

Giudice said that hasn't been the case in recent weeks. She said the district is relying too much on statistics and too little on what parents and students are telling them about violence in the schools.

"I come up here because I am a child who is looking to her parents for guidance," Giudice said. "Regardless of statistics, if enough people are coming here and begging for something to be done, then there is a problem."

The board also heard tonight from Megan Colebank, the mother of a Butler High student who was reportedly beaten and stripped of clothing in a school bathroom on Sept. 17. The girls who were involved were suspended for a few days, but Colebank and anti-bullying advocates have said it isn't enough.

Colebank said she was upset at the board's Oct. 4 meeting, where Superintendent Casey Wardynski stated that violent incidents occur in the schools when students aren't where they are supposed to be, such as "in a bathroom 20 minutes after class begins."

"This was not a fight, it was a random act of violence," Colebank said.

She said she would like to see more programs implemented in the schools to combat bullying.

During a work session, Wardynski and his staff presented the board with information about two anti-bullying programs that have been implemented in the schools. The first, No Place for Hate, has been included as part of the district's new freshman academies.

Donna Clark, coordinator of guidance services for the district, said the program grew from training that district staff had in January, conducted by the Anti-Defamation League. The program is a product of the league.

To become a No Place for Hate school, school administrators must follow a number of steps: Sign an application; create a team to oversee implementation; have students, teachers and staff sign a resolution of respect; and conduct at least three school-wide anti-bullying or diversity programs throughout the academic year.

Once those steps are all completed, administrators can submit to the Anti-Defamation League a certification form to designate their schools as No Place for Hate schools.

Clark also told the board a bit about the Tag, You're It! program implemented this year in some of the schools. That program, co-founded by country musician Michael Peterson, aims to help students focus on building positive lives. The singer talks to students about setting goals, taking responsibility for their lives, making positive and intentional choices and creating a meaningful and purposeful life, Clark said.

Both programs were sponsored this year by Madison County Commissioner Mike Gillespie, Clark said.

In other business, the board approved a contract naming Jason Taylor, the district's chief of finance, as the new chief financial officer. Taylor replaces Frank Spinelli, who resigned for personal reasons Sept. 20 after just over a year with the school district.

The board also approved a retirement incentive policy that allows teachers, counselors, librarians and assistant principals to get paid for giving the district advanced notice of their plans to retire. The program, available to the first 100 eligible applicants to contact the Human Resources Department, will pay 6 percent to 10 percent of an employee's base salary, depending on the length of their notice.

Employees eligible for the program are those with 10 years of creditable service who are at least 60 years old, or those with 25 years of creditable service regardless of age.